Conduits or ducts are used to interconnect apparatuses for conveying a gas therebetween. Often times, the apparatuses are subjected to movement or vibration. If the interconnecting conduit or duct is rigid, the walls of the conduit will, sooner or later, fracture.
Corrugated or accordian-pleated conduits have been used in such applications. Such accordian-pleated conduits flex as the pleats fold and unfold, thus, compensating for the relative motion of the apparatus interconnected by the accordian-pleated conduit. However, eventually the walls of the accordian-pleated conduit will fatigue at the folds and will rupture. In addition, the interior wall surface of these accordian-pleated conduits interfere with the smooth flow of gas therethrough which can cause disruptive eddies in the gas flow. Furthermore, if the gas flowing through the conduit is carrying particulate matter, the particulate matter will abrade the pleats or folds of the accordian-pleated conduit. In addition, the particulate matter being carried by the gas can be trapped by the pleats or folds and build-up on the interior surface of the conduit. Even further, corrugated conduits are expensive.
Conduits for conducting gas made of a flexible fabric material have also been used to interconnect apparatuses to compensate for movement or vibration of the apparatuses. However, such fabric conduits have a number of drawbacks. The fabrics known to me are not capable of withstanding high temperature hot gases and, therefore, disintegrate over time. It has been experienced that when a fabric conduit has been sufficiently weakened by deterioration, the fabric conduit can actually explode.